Former leading New Zealand publisher and bookseller, and widely experienced judge of both the Commonwealth Writers Prize and the Montana New Zealand Book Awards, talks about what he is currently reading, what impresses him and what doesn't, along with chat about the international English language book scene, and links to sites of interest to booklovers.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

THE DROP by Michael Connelly -

Allen & Unwin - $32.99

Note NZ pub date - 31 October.

Harry Bosch is facing the end of the line. He's been put on the DROP - Deferred Retirement Option Plan - three years before his retirement is enforced. Seeing the end of the mission coming, he's anxious for cases. He doesn't have to wait long.

First a cold case gets a DNA hit for a rape and murder which points the finger at a 29-year-old convicted rapist who was only eight at the time of the murder.

Then a city councilman's son is found dead - fallen or pushed from a hotel window - and he insists on Bosch taking the case despite the two men's history of enmity.

The cases are unrelated but they twist around each other like the double helix of a DNA strand. One leads to the discovery of a killer operating in the city for as many as three decades; the other to a deep political conspiracy that reached back into the dark history of the police department.

About the author:

A former police reporter for the Los Angeles Times, Michael Connelly is the author of the acclaimed Harry Bosch thriller series and several other bestselling novels. He lives in Tampa, Florida, with his family.